1899 English cricket season
# 1899 English cricket season

1899 was the tenth season of County Championship cricket in England. Surrey won the championship for the first time in four years, but this title was their last until 1914. Surrey's season was dominated by draws, with fourteen out of 26 games drawn, just like the season in general – especially the Australian team's tour. Four of the five Test matches were drawn during the 19th series between the sides, but Australia won the second Test at Lord's and the series 1–0. This was their first Ashes series win in England since the original match in 1882.

Also, Worcestershire became the fifteenth county in the County Championship, debuting with an 11-run loss to Yorkshire despite earning a 78-run lead on first innings. George Wilson took eight for 70 in the first innings, which was a Worcestershire Championship record until Wilson beat it against Somerset in 1905. The debutants finished twelfth, though they only earned two wins in 12 games. Finally, Sussex' Ranjitsinhji became the first batsman to hit 2000 runs in a Championship season with 102 against Lancashire in August.

The season was a notable one for WG Grace. The First Test marked his final appearance for England (and the Test debut of Wilfred Rhodes). Also Grace played his last Championship game for Gloucestershire, having fallen out with them over his involvement with London County.

## Honours

* County Championship – Surrey
* Minor Counties Championship – Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire (shared title)
* Wisden (Five Cricketers of the Season) – Joe Darling, Clem Hill, Arthur Jones, Monty Noble, Robert Poore

## Ashes tour

| Cumulative record - Test wins | 1876-1899 |
| - | - |
| England | 26 |
| Australia | 20 |
| Drawn | 10 |

## County Championship

### Final table

County Championship 1899 – Final Standings :

| | Team | P | W | L | D | A | Pts | $GC^1$ | Pts/GC (as %) |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Surrey | 26 | 10 | 2 | 14 | 0 | 8 | 12 | 66.67 |
| 2 | Middlesex | 18 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 14 | 57.14 |
| 3 | Yorkshire | 28 | 14 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 10 | 18 | 55.56 |
| 4 | Lancashire | 26 | 12 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 18 | 33.33 |
| 5 | Sussex | 22 | 7 | 5 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 16.67 |
| 6 | Essex | 20 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0.00 |
| 7 | Warwickshire | 20 | 4 | 5 | 11 | 0 | −1 | 9 | −11.11 |
| 8 | Kent | 20 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 1 | −2 | 14 | −14.29 |
| 9 | Gloucestershire | 20 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 0 | −3 | 13 | −23.08 |
| 10 | Hampshire | 20 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 0 | −4 | 12 | −33.33 |
| 10 | Nottinghamshire | 16 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 0 | −2 | 6 | −33.33 |
| 12 | Worcestershire | 12 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 0 | −3 | 7 | −42.86 |
| 13 | Leicestershire | 18 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 0 | −6 | 10 | −60.00 |
| 13 | Somerset | 16 | 2 | 8 | 6 | 0 | −6 | 10 | −60.00 |
| 15 | Derbyshire | 18 | 2 | 9 | 7 | 0 | −7 | 11 | −63.64 |

* $^1$ Games completed

Points system:

* 1 for a win
* 0 for a draw, a tie or an abandoned match
* -1 for a loss

### Most runs in the County Championship

1899 County Championship – leading batsmen :

| Name | Team | Matches | Runs | Average | 100s | 50s |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Ranjitsinhji | Sussex | 20 | 2285 | 76.16 | 7 | 10 |
| Bobby Abel | Surrey | 26 | 2134 | 64.66 | 5 | 11 |
| Tom Hayward | Surrey | 23 | 1798 | 64.21 | 4 | 10 |
| Charlie Townsend | Gloucestershire | 19 | 1694 | 56.46 | 7 | 3 |
| Johnny Tyldesley | Lancashire | 23 | 1584 | 41.68 | 2 | 10 |

### Most wickets in the County Championship

1899 County Championship – leading bowlers :

| Name | Team | Matches | Balls bowled | Wickets taken | Average |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Albert Trott | Middlesex | 20 | 5290 | 146 | 15.69 |
| Wilfred Rhodes | Yorkshire | 26 | 5417 | 129 | 15.66 |
| Arthur Paish | Gloucestershire | 24 | 5151 | 125 | 18.93 |
| Walter Mead | Essex | 18 | 5226 | 112 | 17.12 |
| Bill Bradley | Kent | 21 | 4486 | 112 | 18.77 |

## Overall first-class statistics

### Leading batsmen

1899 English cricket season – leading batsmen :

| Name | Team(s) | Matches | Runs | Average | 100s | 50s |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Ranjitsinhji | England, Gentlemen, MCC, South of England, Sussex | 34 | 3159 | 63.18 | 8 | 17 |
| Bobby Abel | Players, South of England, Surrey | 35 | 2685 | 53.70 | 7 | 12 |
| Tom Hayward | England, Players, South of England, Surrey | 35 | 2647 | 58.82 | 7 | 13 |
| Charlie Townsend | England, Gentlemen, Gloucestershire, MCC, South of England | 30 | 2440 | 51.91 | 9 | 6 |
| CB Fry | England, Gentlemen, South of England, Sussex | 31 | 2366 | 43.81 | 5 | 13 |

### Leading bowlers

1899 English cricket season – leading bowlers :

| Name | Team(s) | Matches | Balls bowled | Wickets taken | Average |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Albert Trott | England, MCC, Middlesex, Players | 32 | 8796 | 239 | 17.09 |
| Wilfred Rhodes | England, Players, Yorkshire | 34 | 7595 | 179 | 17.10 |
| Bill Bradley | England, Gentlemen, Kent, South of England | 25 | 6285 | 156 | 19.10 |
| Walter Mead | England, Essex, MCC, Players | 28 | 6887 | 146 | 18.04 |
| Hugh Trumble | Australia | 32 | 6224 | 142 | 18.43 |
